French Open
There was no hammer lot for Austria’s initially fixed individual players at the French Open in Paris, which begins on Sunday. Dominic Thiem starts his 33rd tennis major tournament against Argentinian Pedro Cachin. Austria’s only lady in the main draw, Julia Grabher has to deal with a qualifier or a lucky loser.
At his tenth appearance in Roland Garros in Paris, where he was only stopped in the final by clay court king Rafael Nadal in 2018 and 2019, Thiem is against the world number 63. by no means an outsider. However, he had lost the only duel in two sets when he came back after a long injury break at a Challenger 2022 in Marbella.
In the event of a win, the unseeded Thiem will at least not have to deal with one of the big ones. Either Cachin’s compatriot Federico Coria or number 15 seeded Croatian Borna Coric would be the second round opponents. With Jurij Rodionov and Sebastian Ofner, two more Austrians could reach the men’s competition, both are in the third and last qualifying round.
Grabher still has to wait
Grabher celebrates her Paris premiere against a qualifier or lucky loser. After this year’s Australian Open (first round out), the Vorarlberg native is only playing her second major tournament. If you win, you can expect a duel with last year’s finalist Coco Gauff (USA/6). Gauff starts her tournament against Rebeka Masarova (ESP).
From an international point of view, the drawing of Novak Djokovic, who was only seeded number three, in the upper half of the tableau caused a stir. Because that means that the 22-time Grand Slam champion could already meet the top seeded Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals. So if the Serb wants to leave the big absentee, the injured 14-time Paris champion Nadal, behind as a major record winner, he has to eliminate the Spanish top favorite before the final.
If Thiem makes it to his limit, he could face Medvedev in the round of 16. Both Alcaraz and Medvedev start the second major of the year against one of a total of 19 qualifiers (three lucky losers after cancellations).
French Open in Paris
(France, Grand Slam tournament, 49.6 million euros, clay)